Fears are growing that a British mother is being held in an Egyptian prison on ‘trumped up charges’ intended to silence her activist sister.
Eman el-Shazly, 45, was taken from her mother’s home in Cairo in the early hours of August 17.
Just 24 hours before she was arrested, Egyptian authorities reportedly rammed the house and told her you have to tell your sister to stop. Birmingham mother’s husband, Zeesharn Moustapha.
Security forces also arrested Ms. el-Shazly’s two brothers and one of her sisters on what the mother’s lawyer said were “trumped up charges.”
Mr Moustapha has now appealed to the British government to “get their heads out of their asses” and intervene if Ms el-Shazly’s condition deteriorates in prison.
The mother-of-four, from Handsworth Wood, Birmingham, had traveled to Cairo to care for her 68-year-old mother, who is ill and had made 18-hour round trips to deliver food to Ms el-Shazly’s brothers while they were detained.
However, on August 16, security forces rammed the elderly woman’s home, where Ms el-Shazly had been staying, before warning her to stop her sister from criticizing the Egyptian government in YouTube videos.
Mr Moustapha claimed they ‘entered the property and vandalized the property’ before returning the next day to arrest the Birmingham mother – at which point she called her distressed husband to tell him ‘they’re coming for me’.
Eman el-Shazly, 45, is reportedly being held on ‘trumped up charges’ by Egyptian authorities over her sister’s online political activism
He said the 45-year-old’s mother and two nieces were allowed to see her and her incarcerated sister on September 2.
Mr Moustapha said: ‘They only saw them for 15 minutes. For the first five to eight minutes, the officers present were just cursing at the family, pushing and shoving.
‘They said, ‘Is your sister going to quit now? Is she going to stop now?’ Actually, they were titillating the family.
“They laughed at them, physically pushed and shoved them. They just sat there in fear.”
Mr Moustapha said the relatives were eventually able to exchange a few words with Ms el-Shazly and her sister, but claims both women appeared to be having physical and psychological problems.
He said: “The two girls are a little worse for wear. They don’t eat well and have lost a lot of weight.
‘Their attitude is that of a broken person. They just don’t look right. I knew it would be even worse to actually hear about her condition.
“But to hear them push, push and prod them is just disgusting behavior.”
Mrs el-Shazly is pictured here with her husband Zeesharn Moustapha, who is calling on the British government to intervene in her case
He said the family brought enough food to feed about 30 people in each women’s cell.
Moustapha previously claimed that prisoners are held in large groups, sleep on concrete floors and rely on family members for food.
His mother-in-law now has four children in custody at the 10th Ramadan Rehabilitation Center.
He said: ‘She was just in pieces on the phone. She’s got four kids there now, so she’s obviously having a really hard time.
“She’s a broken woman now. We can only try to support her over the phone.’
Mr Moustapha added that he was afraid to travel to Egypt himself because of the attention surrounding the case.
He said: ‘I think if I landed at the airport there they would probably pick me up straight away. We have been going there four or five times a year for twenty years.
‘I fell in love with that country. We had the time of our lives there. But of course with this problem it now looks like I won’t be going to Egypt again. It’s just devastation. People are heartbroken.”
Ms el-Shazly remains in pre-trial detention and Egyptian authorities accuse her of using social media to promote the ideas of a terrorist organization and spreading false news or statements that would harm security and public order.
Her British lawyer, Arfan Rashid of Rashid Law, previously said he was not aware of any specific publication allegedly made by the Birmingham mother or evidence that she had personally promoted such an organisation.
Mr Rashid told the BBC: ‘These are trumped up allegations and an attempt by the Egyptian authorities to silence a political activist in Britain – her sister.
“In my opinion, there is sufficient and convincing evidence that this is merely a proxy punishment.”
Meanwhile, Ms el-Shazly’s Egyptian lawyer opposed her continued detention at a hearing on August 30, but it was extended for another 15 days until around September 13.
The mother has claimed that she was not allowed to have a private conversation with her lawyer.
He said their only communication had taken place via video link in the presence of the prosecutor responsible for the detention procedure.
The family and its lawyers believe that Ms el-Shazly’s detention is linked to the political activities of another sister living in Britain.
Her husband described the case as “illegal collective punishment” but said his immediate focus was on securing intervention from the British government.
He said: “We are waiting for the government to do something about it, or at least try to make a public comment.
‘This is where we need the British government and human rights organisations. We need these big people.”
The UK government has warned that people could be arrested for certain online activities.
The website states: ‘Political parties, civil society organizations and media companies, as well as individual bloggers, human rights lawyers and activists, may form and operate under strict rules and conditions.
“However, those identified by Egyptian authorities as engaging in activities deemed to pose a risk to national security may face closure, intimidation, arrest and detention.
“Authorities continue to attack, arrest and detain political opponents, activists and commentators. The press and social media are closely monitored by the authorities.’
An FCDO spokesperson said: ‘We are supporting the family of a British national detained in Egypt and are in contact with the authorities.’
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